Five Poems by Christopher Barnes

 

What The Street Remembers (36)

 

Broo-do-do

Aaaaaaaaaah

Do-do-di-do

What?

     *

Sharon Jones whorls a voluminous skirt.

     *

Ha-ha make it up

I'm not coming around

Chit-chit

Aah haven’t seen it

     *

Binky Griptight poises heels

On the frontier of the curb.

     *

Ooom ooom

Heway lad

What do you think?

It's great

 

 

What The Street Remembers (37)

 

Is that you?

Listen

Aah like that

Drr-rrrrr

     *

E.M. Forster surreptitiously thresholds

The gallery.

     *

Pass the glass for the machine

A knaa

Will he still not tell you?

Fat bugger

     *

John Maynard Keynes flourishes a grip

Of roses.

     *

Der-dor blang ooh ooh

Looks like that thing

Mmm dr-dr

B-loomp doomp doomp

 

 

What The Street Remembers (38)

 

Bloody soaking

I've just put it away

Ha-ha-ha-ha

Who's coming?

     *

Colette flounces at the chestnut stand.

     *

Barum-doom-doom

There she is

Looks like another 20 minutes

Is it hell

     *

Peggy Guggenheim finger-wiggles.

     *

Chk-chk chickatoo-chk

I swear to you this time

Toffee mouse

Not today

 

 

What The Street Remembers (39)

 

Aah that’s silly

Two for a pound

Ilk click pugh

     *

John Cage bends towards the intercom.

     *

Bllee ching

Somebody wants

Tshak

Ap no Sophie

Give it a knock

     *

Aaron Copeland swings at a bluebottle.

     *

There isn’t the time

Wan sing sem

Aa yi

He'll be sixteen

 

 

What The Street Remembers (3)

 

Hello there

Wraaak

What for?

Use the machine

Shreea

     *

Christopher Isherwood budges

Into the terrace.

     *

Ya stupid you

It's at the toon man

     *

Stephen Spender traipses

Round a delivery van.

     *

Uoorgh-ha

Di-da di-da di-da

Let me see

Will you tell them?

Oooooh-aaaaah

 

In 1998 Christopher Barnes won a Northern Arts writers award.  In July 2000 he read at Waterstones bookshop to promote the anthology 'Titles Are Bitches'.  Christmas 2001 he debuted at Newcastle's famous Morden Tower doing a reading of poems.  Each year he read for Proudwords lesbian and gay writing festival and partook in workshops.  2005 saw the publication of his collection LOVEBITES published by Chanticleer Press, 6/1 Jamaica Mews, Edinburgh.

On Saturday 16Th August 2003 he read at the Edinburgh Festival as a Per Verse.

Christmas 2001 The Northern Cultural Skills Partnership sponsored him to be mentored by Andy Croft in conjunction with New Writing North.  He made a radio programme for Web FM community radio about his writing group.  October-November 2005, he entered a poem/visual image into the art exhibition The Art Cafe Project, his piece Post-Mark was shown in Betty's Newcastle.  This event was sponsored by Pride On The Tyne.  He made a digital film with artists Kate Sweeney and Julie Ballands at a film making workshop called Out Of The Picture which was shown at the festival party for Proudwords, it contains his poem The Old Heave-Ho.  He worked on a collaborative art and literature project called How Gay Are Your Genes, facilitated by Lisa Mathews (poet) which exhibited at The Hatton Gallery, Newcastle University, including a film piece by the artist Predrag Pajdic in which he read his poem On Brenkley St.  The event was funded by The Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences Research Institute, Bio-science Centre at Newcastle's Centre for Life.  He was involved in the Five Arts Cities poetry postcard event which exhibited at The Seven Stories children's literature building.  In May he had 2006 a solo art/poetry exhibition at The People's Theatre.

The South Bank Centre in London recorded his poem "The Holiday I Never Had"; he can be heard reading it on www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/record.asp?id=18456

In August 2007 he made a film called 'A Blank Screen, 60 seconds, 1 shot' for Queerbeats Festival at The Star & Shadow Cinema Newcastle, reviewing a poem...see www.myspace.com/queerbeatsfestival   He has also written Art Criticism for Peel and Combustus Magazines.